Obama’s change enhances weekend celebrations

Tuscaloosa residents will have more than one civil rights milestone to celebrate next week, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed and the country inaugurates its first black president.

By Brian ReynoldsStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSATuscaloosa residents will have more than one civil rights milestone to celebrate next week, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed and the country inaugurates its first black president. And they will also have more than one way to celebrate the occasion. “I think there’s a sense around the world that there’s change on the horizon,” said Samory Pruitt, vice president of community affairs for the University of Alabama and chairman of the “Realizing the Dream” committee. “It’s interesting that the change is consistent with the ideals that Dr. King possessed. It’s an interesting time in the world’s history, I think.” The 20th annual “Realizing the Dream” concert, which celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Moody Music Building Concert Hall at UA. “What we’ve tried to do with this program over the last 20 years is to reflect where we are as a community in regards to race relations,” Pruitt said. The program will feature seven local choirs. Tuscaloosa Citywide Middle School Honor Choir, Shelton Singers, Stillman College Choir, Prentice Concert Chorale will perform, as well as three choirs from UA: the Afro-American Gospel Choir, University Singers and University Chorus. Each will perform one or two selections. Clayborne Carson, professor of history and director of the King Papers Project at Stanford University, will share his views on the global impact of King’s work. Carson, who is compiling King’s speeches, notes and papers into a 14-volume collection, will provide insight into King’s lesser-known works. “Dr. Carson has extensive experience in the writings and notes of Dr. King and we’re excited about what he’s going to be able to share with this community,” Pruitt said. “We’re very excited about it and I think the community will be pleased with the concert and the remarks from Dr. Carson and the program in general.” Another Martin Luther King Day tradition, a commemoration of his birthday to benefit the Benjamin Barnes branch of the YMCA, will be at 2:45 p.m. Sunday at Elizabeth Baptist Church. The program, which has been performed for more than 30 years, usually raises between $5,000 and $7,000 in donations, said Barnes branch YMCA executive director Alan McShan. “It really is a big boost. Our annual goal is 42,000 and this is like a kick-off,” he said. “We call it a sustaining drive.” The program may raise even more money this year because of an anticipated increase in attendance. The program normally draws 300 to 500 people, but McShan expects between 700 and 1,000 this year. “This year’s going to have even more meaning. Not just meaning, but it’s going to be a greater attendance because of that historic event that’s going to take place on the 20th,” McShan said, referring to Inauguration Day on Tuesday. L.V. Hall, the program’s founder, also expects Elizabeth Baptist Church to be packed. “It’s going be like a Sunday school picnic on the Fourth of July, there’s going to be so many people there,” Hall said. “It’s going to be like nothing we’ve ever had before in the history of having these programs.” The money raised for the YMCA allows the organization to offer programs, especially youth sports, at a reduced cost, Hall said. And, he added, that is exactly what King would have wanted. “Dr. King was a member of the Butler St. YMCA in Atlanta and he gave funds to help those children and get them off the streets,” Hall said. “I thought this is like doing the thing that Dr. King would want us to do. That this would make Dr. King’s dream a reality.” The program will feature music by the Bethel Baptist Mass Church Choir and Eddie Mae Brown. The Rev. Schmitt Moore, also of Bethel Baptist Church, will give a sermon.